Something is Shifting
by RizzlesReads
Summary: Now that Arizona is seeing the Prosthetist, Callie has been noticing a shift... maybe they are finally on the road to reconciliation... (Takes place on/after 9.04-ish - some plot spoilers) Calzona relationship themes / May change to M if story progresses.
1. Chapter 1

**Here's my take on how #Calzona *may* reconcile… something to at least hold me over and repair from this #PGSD (Post Grey's Stress Disorder)**

**Thanks for reading! This is my 1st Calzona fic!**

_"She's beautiful even when she's angry or sad"_ Callie thought as she stole a glance at her wife eating breakfast.

Arizona looked up just as that thought crossed Callie's mind. It made her sad that eye contact with her wife had become so awkward, so strained, but she wasn't ready to let go of her pain yet. The person who is supposed to protect her most in the world broke her promise to save her leg! She's a surgeon! How is she supposed to go back to being herself without HER LEG?! She had every right to be angry… but reason was starting to set in. She was starting to see that she isn't in this alone like she's been pretending. Callie was in this too. Callie is hurt too. …and despite it all, Callie is still THE love of her life and she can't stand to be the one hurting her. _ "Maybe today will be the day I tell her that" _she thought. _"We need to leave in 15 minutes. Is that enough time?"_ Callie's voice said, breaking into her thoughts. _"I don't know! IS IT?! You're the one who has to help me! So you tell me! Is that enough time to get me ready to go?!"_ Arizona shouted. As soon as the last syllable of her rant echoed through the room, she silently chastised herselffor immediately defaulting to her newly found, angry-self. _"Damnit! Maybe I'll tell her later instead…"_ she consoled herself.

The ride to the hospital was tense and silent; the new normal. Callie stole a glance at Arizona and used all of her strength to not breakdown from her wife's beauty. She was at a loss. _"How can I bring her back to me?! Somewhere in there HAS to be that rational, intelligent, AMAZING doctor who knows I had no choice; who knows that this was the ONLY choice to give her back her quality of life. I need her to see that… I need her to see me."_ As sad and as frustrated as Callie was, she had hope. Over the past week since Arizona had been working with the Prosthetist, she's started to see glimmers of her sweet, loving wife. Those moments were fleeting though, but at least they were there now!

Callie was starting to calm down and clung to that hope with every ounce of her heart as she parked the car outside Seattle Grace Mercy Death - _Cristina was definitely onto something with THAT one_!, she thought. She helped Arizona into her chair, then freed Sofia from her car seat and began her morning juggling act. It'd be easiest if Sofia would sit with Arizona while Callie pushed both of them, but, sadly Sofia had learned to read both of her mom's emotions and kept her distance from Arizona mostly. Something suddenly shifted in that moment though; as Callie started pushing the chair with Sofia on her hip, Sofia started wiggling and reaching toward Arizona. Callie was about to sternly ask Sofia to stop fussing, when Arizona turned around and caught her daughter's eye and smiled. It had been so long since Callie saw such a genuine, warm Arizona smile that she almost lost her resolve right there in the parking lot. Hesitantly, Callie asked Arizona _"Do you want to hold her while we walk in today?"_. Arizona responded with a smile and subtle nod. Callie gently placed Sofia in Arizona's lap and instructed her to be still so she doesn't hurt Mommy. Her hand accidentally brushed Arizona's arm as she moved to stand straight causing Callie to freeze. A casual touch from her wife shouldn't cause an electrical current like that, but when it's been so long since it's felt so natural, what other response could there be? Callie recovered quickly and returned to her position and pushing the chair. She couldn't help but let a small smile rest on her lips as she walked… there was that glimmer again.

They went in through the staff entrance, and took the shortest distance possible to the Prosthetist's room to avoid Arizona being seen and forced into an awkward encounter. Moments later they were at the room in which Arizona would spend her day. Callie pushed her in to her usual place, and moved to remove Sofia from her lap. Sofia, knowing it was her turn to get dropped off in her room, smiled and turned to hug Arizona while whispering _"Bye bye Mommy"_ with the innocence that only a child can posses. The women caught each other's glances during that tender moment and again, something shifted… Callie picked up Sofia and was about to tell Arizona she'd see her later when Arizona spoke first; _"Do you think you'll be able to take a lunch break at some normal time today?"_. _"Yes" _was all Callie could manage in response. _"Okay. Um, well, if they have that macaroni and cheese today, that would be good for lunch. If you can, I mean. Or Moore will—"_ Arizona stammered as Callie interrupted to say _"That would be great. I'll be here."_. Arizona nodded and smiled in response. Callie stood, smiling, stuck in the moment for a second before Sofia reminded her that it was her turn. Feeling more hopeful and lighter than she had in months, Callie carried their daughter to daycare and began her day.

Lunch time seemed to come faster than any other day. Callie was happy to see the shift in Arizona, but part of her was still wary; if she let her hopes get up too high, she'd have that much further to fall when the Angry Arizona returns. _"No! Don't think like that!" _she chastised herself, _"she is still your wife and the real Arizona is in there somewhere and she's trying to find that again too. It's my job to lead the way and let her know it's safe and that I'm still here"_. She reassured herself over and over as she carried their macaroni and cheese lunches upstairs.

Eating with Arizona wasn't suddenly back to the way they were, but they were certainly moving in the right direction. Arizona openly shared about the progress she was making with Moore and even asked Callie how her morning surgeries went. Callie couldn't remember the last time such a common pleasantry had passed between them. Things were definitely shifting…


	2. Chapter 2

The next few days passed by with the same little shifts here and there… they certainly weren't back to a normal, warm routine, but Arizona's outbursts were becoming less and less, and her warm, smiling self was seen more and more. They were eating lunch together whenever Callie's surgical schedule allowed, and exchanged more and more common pleasantries as the days rolled on. The hope propelled Callie through her days and, once again, she looked forward to seeing her wife, with a childlike anticipation of what would happen next. _"We're getting there"_ she smiled to herself as she walked to pick up Arizona from Moore's room. _"Tonight I'll try to keep the conversation off work though; I don't think we're far enough along to discuss my new case…"_. Today Callie had to amputate a 16 year old girl's foot after the girl blatantly ignored Callie's stern warnings to let her severe injury heal…

Once dinner was cleaned up and Sofia was down for the night, the two women took their places on the couch. Callie had run out of small talk and the dreaded topic came up. _"I heard a few Interns talking in the hallway today and it sounds like you've had a tough case this week"_ Arizona hesitantly said. _"Of course she already knows about this"_ Callie thought, _"…the way people talk in that hospital!"_. Callie took a deep breath and replied _"Yea. It's been a draining one… I didn't think you'd want to talk about it. Things have been going so well recently and I didn't want to ruin it by going there yet… I'm not sure if we're ready for that conversation so I ha—"_ ~ _"Stop."_ Arizona interrupted. _"I know why you haven't mentioned it. I'm mentioning it though. I'm not sure if we're ready either. …if I'm ready. But we have to start somewhere and this is me starting. So tell me about it."_

Callie took a deep, steadying breath as she debated the outcome of this conversation and wracked her brain for where to start… _"I guess let's start at the beginning…"_ Callie filled Arizona in on the details of the case, right down to the boat being named "Pickle". She got more and more relaxed as the story progressed and saw a hint of Dr. Robbins in Arizona's facial expressions. _"Maybe this is a good place for us to start"_ she thought as the explanation came to a close and she readied herself for her wife's response.

_"Wow! I can see why the Interns were so animated about this. It's definitely a tough case and forced everyone involved to make some hard choices. I remember one of my first experiences as an Intern with how hard and unfair our jobs can be sometimes…"_ Arizona wistfully and sadly replied. The two women sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments as the emotion of what they were about to talk about began to wash over both of them. Arizona spoke first…

_"Her parents were right to consent to the amputation. You gave her mother the right advice and she had to hear it. Someone has to be the bad guy. The girl may not understand yet, or perhaps ever, but having a life is better than no life… and she has so much of it ahead of her. …and with advances in western medicine, life will eventually go on as if it never happened. It's the getting there that's hard. A lot of hearts will break along the way. The pieces will come together for her though… one day, she'll suddenly be reminded that they made the choice because of how MUCH they love her and that it's their lives now too…."_ Arizona broke on the last sentence; a break that has been a long time coming as the anger, sadness, longing and regret washed over her. Callie went to her wife and held her and cried with her. Arizona settled into Callie's arms and let herself be held as sobs racked through her body. After a long moment, Callie spoke through her tears. _"It is OUR life and I will do whatever it takes for us to get there. Whatever you can't do, I will. That's how this works, Arizona."_

Nothing further was said of it that night… after both of them regained composure, Callie helped get her spent wife ready for bed. As she drifted off to sleep emotionally exhausted from their evening, Callie couldn't help but feel grateful. She knew that her and Arizona just took a giant leap forward. Her goal wasn't to go back to who they were anymore, but to move forward to who they would be after having overcome such sadness and tragedy together… Things were surely shifting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Part III to wrap it up?!


End file.
